Start To A Green Year

This month, Pantone announced the 2017 annual ultimate color: Greenery (vegetation green). This yellow-green is reminiscent of fresh foliage and the various green hues throughout nature, evoking certain shades of grass and trees. Although lighter and brighter, Greenery reminds one to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate.

Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, explains: "The vigor and vitality of the greens can inspire our self-confidence, let us have the courage to live the life we ​​want, to redefine success and happiness. "

Speaking of vegetation green. It is pleasing to the eye and gives the feeling of comfort and happiness. Hence, it is known as the "stone of happiness."

(Above) Bulgari- Inlaid 275-carat round convex peridot and 38-carat red spinel.

Peridot was first discovered about 3500 years old in ancient Egyptian territory of St. John's Island. Its clear and beautiful color is very pleasing to the eye, therefore it has been one of the most loved color gemstones by Bulgari.

(Above) Isabella Langlois-  This piece was inspired by nature, and made from 18K gold featuring a peridot as centerpiece surrounded with diamonds.

(Above) Tamsen Z- 18K black gold inlaid with peridots and colored diamond earring. The top two peridot weight 7.26 kt. The lower peridots weight 30.42 kt. Ann Ziff, founder of the Tamsen Z brand, is not only an excellent designer but also a connoisseur. From the rare Australian black opal to the precious Paraiba tourmaline, Ann Ziff has become the world's most outstanding private gem collector.

(Above) Asprey- Asprey is the British Royal Queen brand. Launched in 1781, and is still the most prestigious British luxury brand after 200 years. Its design is simple yet subtly extravagance.

(Above) Henry Dunay- Peridot inlaid diamond earrings. Henry Dunay's work has won several times the Best in Design award. He is one of the most famous jewelry designer in New York. The top materials are used.

(Above) Hemmerle- Based in Germany, this beautiful tassel earrings is embellished with peridot and sapphires. Hemmerle opened its own jewelry store in Munich, to provide customers with classical style of jewelry and impeccable quality.

Golden Globe 2016 Gems

It's one of those time again where all attention are on the 2016 Golden Globe Awards. Seeing celebrities adorned themselves with statement baubles and beautiful dresses are probably the start to setting the fashion trend for this year. Without a doubt we see the recurring jewel-toned theme such as emeralds, sapphires, rubies and diamonds. Scroll down to see my favorite picks from this year Golden Globe Awards. 

 
Taraji P. Henson, wearing emerald earrings by Lorraine Schwartz.
Henson is definitely rocking her gorgeous white Kimberley McDonald dress and those big baubles.

Jennifer Lawrence wearing 150 carats diamond necklace by Chopard.

Natalie Dormer wearing floral diamond earrings

Zendaya wearing Yoko London Tahitian pearls.

Laverne Cox wearing Lorraine Schwartz emerald earrings.

Laverne Cox wearing Lorraine Schwartz jewels and a Nathalie Trad clutch.
I love the Art Deco bracelets paired with the clutch that's made out of shells. The deep green gives off a royal look.

Maria Menounos wearing Ofira jewels.

Maggie Gyllenhaal wearing Neil Lane jewels.
Somehow there's a touch of antique feel to these pair.

Leslie Mann wearing Lorraine Schwartz necklace and Irene Neuwirth earrings.
Out of all the jewelry it is refreshing to see a combination of different colored gemstones strand in one. Paired with her pink pastel dress gives off a soft vibe.

Jennifer Lopez wearing wearing 200 carats of Harry Winston diamond necklace and earrings.
JLO never fails to impress. The pop yellow color of her dress paired up with a statement necklace gives off a bold, elegant look.

Which one is your favorite?
XOXO

Gemalogue's Design: Oceanic Cuff

As you may know I recently started my jewelry design journey at FIT in New York. I used to take jewelry design for granted but now that I am making my own jewelry, I have to say that the process is an enduring physical process. Every piece takes countless of hours from start to finish. Since this was my first design, I decided to document my design journey.

My bracelet design was inspired by the ocean, I love anything with soft curves and abstract shapes, therefore I incorporated it into my design by making it resemble the ocean floor. I also love working with any stones that are sparkly, whether they be natural gemstones or crystals. For this particular design I used crystals to represent the sparkles that occurs when the sunlight hits the surface of the water.



The green piece you see above is a wax piece that I carved out to the shape that I want. The tiny holes are where the crystals are going to be in.



Next the wax piece was sent for casting. I cast it sterling silver. However somehow I didn't really like the way the curve on the cuff looked so I decided to change the cuff design.

Here you noticed the little extruded curve had been removed. I think it is much more aesthetically pleasing now. Next, the cast piece was soldered onto the cuff so it becomes one solid piece. I have to say it was a tedious process because holes were drilled in order to hold both pieces together, and any wrong measurement would cause the middle part to sit slanted or incorrectly.

Below you can see the initial sketch I had in mind and what the product came out to look.

Finally the last step was to plate the cuff, thanks to a lovely person from instagram I chose rose gold with rhodium. I was contemplating between gold and rose gold but I'm happy at how this color combination came out instead. The rose gold and silver color gives of a soft look. The stones that I used for the tiny holes were cabochons, so when I run my fingers through it there's a textured feeling.

Below was a custom piece I made for a customer. She wanted everything to be solid sterling silver (hence more expensive). If you notice, I replaced the cabochon stones with Swarovski crystals instead so it helps bring the cuff to life.

Hope you enjoy my piece! I'm looking forward to sharing more designs with you all :) Find me on instagram and follow my design journey! Happy holidays! XOXO

Jewelry Trip To Asia

For those of you following my blog, I apologize for the lack of update. I went on a month vacation to Asia to visit different independent jewelry designers. Most of them do customized jewelry, I didn't know that much about the business of the jewelry industry till I met them. Due to copyright issues, I was not able to take that many photos, however I managed to took some with permission from the designers.

 My first stop was at Hong Kong. This man right here is Mr. Celso Alejo. He is a graduate gemologist (G.G) of the Gemological Institute of America (GIA),  he does appraisals and also customized jewelry for high-end customers. His company, D'ALEJO is based in Hong Kong, and most of his clients are expatriates. He spent the whole day walking me through the process of his work which was very helpful. Below is a ring he made for his client, it was an extremely difficult work because of the pave stones and the intricate hollow lace details inside.

 My next stop was in Shanghai. Here I met Ms. Eden at her studio for a quick chat. She used to go to school at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in FIT where she studied fashion design. However, after graduation she moved to Shanghai to start her jewelry business. Like Celso, she does customize jewelry. Her style is a mixture of avant-garde and elegance, it reminds me a lot of David Webb's design. Below is me looking through her jewelry sketches and feeling extremely stunned by the detailed drawings. You can take a look at some of her work here.

Lastly, my stop at another jewelry designer really left me astonished. This jewelry designer named Aaron Xu was beyond remarkable (below). His design style carries European characteristics. He told me that his inspirations always come from the aesthetics of Europe, mostly Italy. As someone who does not know how to design jewelry yet, he told me a tip that I still remember. He said whenever I want to design jewelry, I should have the stone first and design around the stone, and not the other way around because it's hard to find a specific stone that would always cater to my design.

ESHVI- With Love From England

If you haven't heard of Eshvi you should definitely check them out. I first came across their jewelry when I was browsing Instagram (as always). Their pieces stood out to me because of their "Robot" collection inspired by Lego and robots. The pieces was designed with many geometric shapes- cubic mostly. The thing with geometric shapes (square, rectangle, triangle) is that sometimes it can make the design look stiff because of it's natural angular designs. However Eshvi pieces are put together so eloquently that it flows as a whole.

Image: Natia Chkhartishvili / Motilo

As quoted from their website, "Eshvi, means ‘fang’ in Georgian and is generally understood to be a good luck charm. This iconic symbol is a distinguishing design detail of the brand and features centrally or subtly in the pieces." Designed by Georgian born sisters-in-law Natia Chkhartishvili and Tamar Svanidze, the London based jewelry brand was founded on the desire to create strong statement jewelry.

Below are some of my favorite pieces from their AW/14/15 "Robot" Collection. As mentioned, this collection took inspirations from robots, Lego and the technological progress presented in our daily lives and inevitably in the future of fashion. The Robot Collection mixes statement pieces with feminine colors and elements to soften angular designs.

Golden Robot ring

Robot Cuff: Yellow gold plated cuff with white marble and moonstone resin cubes.

Pink Quartz Earrings: Rhodium plated earrings mixed with yellow gold, light rose and black Swarovski crystal

Robot Necklace: Yellow gold plated and ring pendant embellished with marble studs.

Robot earrings: Yellow gold plated with white marble resin fangs

Robot Cuff Bracelet: Yellow gold plated embellished with red resin cube

Robot Choker: Rhodium plated necklace featuring yellow, lapis malachite and red coral resin cubes. 

Which one did you like? 

XOXO,

Tina

Melanie Casey Jewelry

As you know, I browse a lot on instagram in search for creative, new and unique jewelry designers to share with all of you. If you don't yet follow me on Instagram, be sure to do so. Today I want to share with you this jewelry designer whose pieces really caught my attention. Her pieces are not only delicate and unique, but her crafty packaging really adds that final touch to the overall customer experience.

Her name is Melanie Casey- she creates feminine fine jewelry with precious and semi-precious gemstones, diamonds and 14Karat gold in her studio space in the outskirts of Boston, MA. All her pieces are done in-house, and her materials are only sourced from trusted industry leaders. She firmly believes that ethical metal mining practices are as important as ethical Diamond mining.

Below are some of the pieces that really stood out to me from her collections. Its cool shades of blue, green, and the use of those fresh water pearls really reminded me of the ocean. And the crafty texture reminds me of that raw, naked ambience of wild nature.

Pearl Three Stone Necklace. Freshwater pearls set in 14K gold prong setting. 14K gold 16" chain.

Sapphire and Diamond Stud Earrings. Natural blue sapphires set in custom made prongs, with small natural white diamond accents.

Citrine and Pearl Statement Ring. Yellow citrine with six natural White Akoya pearls.

Double Diamond Lace Edge Ring. Handmade with solid 14K gold, and nature diamonds.

Pearl Trio Stud Earrings. Fresh water pearls are set in 14K yellow gold three stone settings.

Which one is your favorite?

XOXO,

Tina